Sarah Merrell

Sarah Merrell serves as Community Director for Asheville Fashion Week and directs fashion shows in the area. She is the Digital Media and Production Manager for Mary Beth West Communications, and in her spare time, she teaches modeling and acting classes in the region for Gage Models & Talent Agency. Her modeling experience includes fashion, commercial, promotional, and runway modeling. She has traveled all over the world and country for modeling work, and most recently has shot in Spain and modeled in Fashion Weeks in a variety of cities. She holds a BA in Communication Studies from UNC with a concentration in Media Production and Screen Writing, and an MBA from Western Carolina University. In addition to modeling and acting, Sarah works in marketing, public relations, and event planning. She uses her experience with modeling and marketing to plan and direct photo shoots and fashion shows.

Sarah works very closely with the fashion community in her home town of Asheville, NC where she is dedicated to promoting and growing the fashion business through networking, collaboration, mentoring, and events. She manages the Asheville Model Network, Asheville's fashion instagram account, is a fashion columnist, and hosts monthly fashion segments for the local news channel, WLOS in Asheville as well as WBIR in Knoxville.

Upcycled eco-fashion is a growing trend, bringing change to a country where over-consuming is typically the norm. The upcoming Color Me Goodwill fashion show highlights sustainable fashion by Asheville designers while raising awareness for Goodwill's mission: transforming donations into jobs and job training for thousands of people in Western North Carolina.

Rock Eblen's 2nd Annual Pizza PanDemonium is back at Highland Brewing. Along with a pizza cook-off contest, attendees will enjoy live music and the Wonderland Fashion Fantasy show, featuring Alice in Wonderland-inspired designs by local fashion designers.

I had the amazing experience of being part of the creative process for designer Rachel Weisberg's latest clothing line and since she's fairly new to Asheville, I asked her to share some info with us on what moves and inspires her.

Food. Beer. Music. Fashion. Asheville is known as a destination and purveyor of all four, and this Sunday, May 17th, they will combine forces in the Pizza Pan-Demonium event, a benefit for Eblen Charities, taking place at Highland Brewing.